Car coupler



March 16 1926.

J. WI LLISON CAR COUPLER Filed March l7 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet '1 INVENTOR. 10km 1 ATTORNEY March 16,1926. 7 1,577,087

J. WILLISON CAR COUPLER 0 Filed March 17, 1924 V 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

" ATT 217E) Patented Mar. 16, 1926,;

* outrun JOHN WILLISON OF- CLEVELAND; OHLIO; ASSZGE'OR; Tilt.NATIONAL;JILAE IIEABEEE STEEL. CASTINGSQCOMPANY-J fCEEVELANDYu OHIQT;-; A; CQRRQRATIONQ OFsOHIO.

can oourms.

Application,filedMarchlY, 1924., 1 Serial uaesaesr.

with thefparts in the position; shown inFig 3; and2 Figs, 5, and6 are sections onilines V-V and XII-rill; oiFig. 4, respectively.

My, invention. relates to car couplers and i, is particularly designed toprovide means; for permitting ,cars equipped with out omatic couplers to be, coupled, with cars equipped with, couplers of other, types, sucln as .ofj'the i drawhookl andside. bufl'en type Tot-his end. a transitional ore supplemental coupling clevice is; provided which is attached to the, automatic. coupler and is so arranged that; either the-transitional device .i or the, automatic, coupleranay be easilyswungintoorout of operative position and thereby L be, ready for coupling with an automatic.coupler of, the. same type on. with a draw-ho 0k, arr an gemenu or.- other; formof coupler. My inven1 tion, also provides meanswhereby thev auto mat-i0 coupler is controlledby. a spring; centering;deviceand, at the Same. time;v provi: sion i's made for a .ifree lateral swing within the! automatic coupling range of the autoT matic-coupler. Myf invention also contains, provision whereby. when the transitional ,cou? pling is in use the automatic coupler centering; means: shall. be rendered inoperative, and remainin Einoperative position um til the automatic coupler is, again; moved. back into its coupling, range, My. invention alsov comprises-the; various features which. I shall hereinafter describe and claim.

Referring to-the drawings, Qindicates an automatic coupler, of the rigidjawed type, such as is described in my, Patent 1 201,665,, dated, October 17, 1916,,the rearwardly-v ex.- tending-shank. 3 of which lldS-zneitl, its rear. end a vertical aperture: 4 by; which the, coupler; is securedto a draft-.casting oby. a,

pivot pin 6. Mounted on the rear of the coupler .head and'resting on the shank 35,, is a saddle shaped transition member 7 hav ing, preferably, integral therewithand e);- tendingjto one side or the coupler head-a hook 8. The forward face 9. of the transi- 6O tionnnemb'er 7 bears against the rear face, 10 of-tlie coupler head, andentending fon wardly from the transition member andon' either side, 01 the coupler heachare a pairo'f ears ll, 12, which are apertured for reception of the sccuringpin 13', which extends throughsuch earsa1idthrough the rear 'por tion oftlie coupler head; The ear 12, on theside opposite the hook 8, preferably has 7 an inward projection 14' which engages a 7 complementary;projection 15 in the, side oi"; the coupler head" and'thereby assists in resisting the rotative stresses in iposedupon; the transition member by the ofiicentered application oifjforce uponthe-hook '8 when the transitional",member, 7 'is in use. The. transitional member 7 may "also be arranged so that its? rear side will, under severe bufingstresses, imposed upon the automatic coupler, engage the forward face oi thefcoupler pocket 51 andthereby form a'buiiing stop The transitional member. is employed for coupling with a car equipped with a, non-automatic coupler such as a. coupling 16, of the draw hoolrtype, in which event the coupling 16 is, connected to the hook 8 by the;;shackle, andlslaclt adjuster 17,- as isshowniiliFigi 11- The automatic coupler is free to move without restraint in the: normal coupling range indicated by the lines a and; b in Fig," 8, but, beyond such range, its movee mentis controlled by a; coupler centering device,which.tendstometurn the coup r to thenormaljcoupling range when the coupler has been carried beyond such range by movement, of thecar; on which. the coupler, is I mounted around, curv s,- 7

A coupler centering device suitable for the foregoing purpose comprises a, base mem ber,18secured to oneio f'the, car sillsa50, on which ,isufor n 1e,d,the socket; 19 for a-bearing 20. ofthe spring-leveu 21!, On the lever 21; are; a; pair of; trunnions 22 whichseat in, ape ertures 2.3 .ofthe links 24, The links 24 have slotted; outer, ends 25, which i engage the lugs 26 of the outer follower 2,7. Bearing against;

the inner face of the follower is a spring 28 which surrounds the links E241; and at its inner end bear against the inner follower 29, which in turn bears against the shoulders 30 of the base member 18. Securing the parts of the centering device togetl'ier is a. through bolt 31, one end of which is an ehored within the base member and extends outwardly inside the spring between the links 24 and through the outer follower 27, a nut at the outer end having a bearing against the outer face 23 of the follower 27. The lever 21. at the end opposite its hearing in the socket 19 of the base member 18 has a horizontal slot ill for the latch The lever 21 has also a vertically extending slot 36 and upstanding lugs 37 at either side thereof to which is pivoted the operating member 38. The latch has a notch 39 therein into which the operating member 38 is arranged to fall by gravity, thereby locking the latch 35 immovable with the lever 21, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4-. The latch 35, to prevent it from moving laterally out of the slot 3* has an upturned end which holds it therein.

Connecting the coupler centering device and the coupler is a centering rod tl, one end 42 of which is bent downwardly to engage the elongated slot -13 in the coupler shank 3 just forward of the vertical aperture a. The opposite end ttti: of the rod ell is likewise turned downward to engage in the elongated slot do in the latch As is indicated above, in operating my improved device on railroads in which rather extreme conditions of track curvature are met, I have found it desirable to provide centering mechanisn'l for the coupler which permits a free lateral swing within the limits of its automatic coupling range, as is indicated by the lines a and 7), and I have taken care of such condition by providing the slot in the latch 35 of such a length that the centering rod -11 is free to travel until the coupler 2 is swung to the limits of its automatic coupling range to one side or the other without bringing the centering mechanism into operation. lVhen, because of conditions of track curvature referred to above, the automatic coupler is swung outside the automatic coupling range, the end 4.4 of the rod 41 will come into bearing with one end or the other of the slot 45 in the latch 85, and cause the latch 35 to move with it. As the latch 35 is locked rigidly in the slot PM of the lever 21 by the operating member 38, which has dropped down into the notch 39 in the latch 35, the movement of the latch in either direction causes the lever 91 to swing to one side or to the other, depending on the direction of movement of the car coupler. Thus, when the lever ill is pulled toward the sill by the movement of the centering rod ell, the inner follower 29 is held stationary against the shoulder 30 of the base lllQll'l Jtl 18, and the links 94. and the outer follower Eli move toward the sill. 50 in unison with the lever 21, thus cmi'ipressing the spring 28. When the lever 21 is pushed outwardly by the centering rod til the outer follower 27 is held stationary 3y the through bolt- 31 and the inner follow 1' 9 moves outwardly with the lever 21, thus compressing the spring 28 against the outer follower 27. As the ap erturcs in the outer ends 525 of the links are elongated, this permits the outward movement of the links relative to the outer follower 27.

As soon as the pressure caused by the rounding of the curve is relieved, the centering mechanism actuated by the spring 28 tends to return the coupler 3 to a normal central. position within its normal automatic couplii'ig range.

lVhen it is desired to use the transitional coupling mechanism, in which event it is necessary to swing the. automatic coupler 2 to one side so as to permitthe pulling hook 8 to he brought into the line of draft, the operating handle 38 is raised, thus elevating it out of the notch 39 in the latch 35, which unlocks the latch 35 from its rigid engagement with the lever 21 and thus permits the :mtomatic coupler to be swung to one side without restraint by the centering mechanism.

lVhen it is desired to re-employ the automatic coupler, the automatic coupler is pulled over within the limits of its auto- :niatic con 'iling range, and the consequent lateral movci'nent of the rod 41 will carry with it the latch into such a position that the operating handle 38 will again drop into the notch 39 in the latch 35 and thus look the latch 35 and lover 52-1. together, thereby bringing the centering mechanism again into operation.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

lVhat I claim" is:

1. In coupling mechanism, unlike and alternatively used couplers laterally displaced from each. other, a pivot pin, each coupler transn'iitting stresses to a railwa} vehicle through the said pivot pin, each coupler being in non-coupling position when the other is in use, and a coupler centering device connected to one of. said couplers arranged to control the movement of said coupler, the said coupler being free without restraint from said centering device to more laterally during normal coupling movements, and means for operatively disconnecting the centering device .from the said coupler when the other coupler is in;

use.

2. In coupling mechanism, unlike and alternatively used couplers laterally displaced from each other arranged to transmit stresses to a railway vehicle through a common pivot pin, each coupler when in coupling position being arrangedto hold the other in noncoupling position, one of said couplers being an automatic coupler movable laterally during coupling'operations with a like coupler, a coupler centering device connected to the said coupler, means for operatively disconnecting the centering device when the other of said couplers is in vice connected to the said coupler, means for operativel'y, disconnecting the centering device when the other of said couplers is in use, and automatic means for reconnecting the centering device and the first mentioned coupler when the said coupler is returned to coupling position, the centering device being adapted to control the radial movement of the said coupler beyond its coupling range and to return it to the coupling range.

a. In coupling mechanism," unlike and alternatively used couplers laterally displaced from each other arranged to transiiiit stresses to a railway vehicle through a common pivot pin, each coupler when in coupling position being arranged to hold the other in noncoupling position, one ofsaid couplers being an automatic coupler movable laterally during coupling operations with a like'coupler, a spring operated coupler centering device mounted on the vehicle, and operating mechanism whereby the centering device and the shank of the automatic coupler may be operatively'connected and disconnected.

5.111 coupling mechanism, unlike, and alternatively used couplers laterally displaced from each other arranged to transmit stresses to a railway vehicle through a common pivot pin, each coupler when in coupling position being arranged to hold the other in noiicoupling position, one of said couplers being an automatic coupler.

movable laterally during coupling operations with a like coupler, a spring operated coupler centering device mounted on the vehicle, and a lever arranged to efiect an automat c:connection between the centering device and the automatic coupler when the latter is in use, the said lever upon actuation being also arranged to operatively disconnect the said'device and the said automatic coupler when the other coupler is in USB.

6. In coupling mechanism, unlike and alternatively used couplers laterally; displaced trom each other, one of said couplers being of saddle shape and mounted upon the other and each being in non-coupling position when the other is in use, a coupler centering device connected to the second mentioned coupler arranged to control the movement of said coupler, and means for operatively disconnecting and connecting the centering mechanism and they said coupler.

JOHN winnisoiv. 

